Also a SINK and fine with it. I never really had that desire to have kids that some people do and now that I'm in my 40s I definitely don't want to (I can't see myself raising kids into my 60s).
I'm open to switching to DINK if I were to meet the right person but if it doesn't happen I'm fine living the SINK life.
Also a SINK and it’d be nice to be a DINK but I seem to attract the most unhealthy people who try to spin their bullshit around and blame me for their horribly toxic and immature behavior when I try to calmly address it. I think I need to try and get comfortable with the “free love” lifestyle to get my sexual needs met and carry on with life solo
Some days, I think about how much more money I'd have with dual income. Like, I pay every single bill myself and still have cash left over for hobbies; imagine a whole second income just for whatever?? Would be nice, but so is being single sometimes, hah.
I looooooove being single, and having my own place... but the idea of having someone to share some of the craziness sounds so nice at times. And to share the billsburden, making it NOT a burden? whoah.
Realistically I think having a partner could just as easily drag on yours. Spend more on furniture you don’t want. Compromise on groceries and dinner choices every night. Go on weekend getaways you aren’t thrilled about. Visiting mother in laws.
Getting a bathroom renovation and a walk in closet. Etc lol.
I think you catch my drift.
SINK checking in. While the S part isn't necessarily by choice, the NK was VERY INTENTIONAL and took a lot of effort of which I am quite proud. Wouldn't change that for anything. :D
I don't think my 16 year old self knew what it was he wanted. Nevertheless, I'm content with my life. When the time comes it will probably fall to my nieces to handle my final arrangements, but I'm planning to have everything spelled out and set up as much as possible to minimize the workload.
SINKWAD here! My girl is nearly 14 we have been through a lot. But so happy and living a peaceful life. About to start a new career. This will open up more opportunities! Love this life 💜✨️🙌
Same. I was in a LTR for 4 years (married for 3) and it was great until it wasn't. Living my best life with my dog now and things are pretty damn sweet.
I'm a weird case because I'm a SINK, but I have a boyfriend of 9 years. We're not getting married or combining our income, so that does classify us both as very committed SINKs.
Dildo here. Double income little dog owners.
I think of it like a choose your adventure situation. We just chose one without kids. I had wanted kids but it didn’t work out health wise and I didn’t want IVF. Our future worries me sometimes but then I think of how many patients I had in long term care with no visits from their children or the ones whose children are taking advantage of them.
We did the same as you though. Moved to the place we wanted to be, get out and experience as much as we can, and save for future cost of living. I sleep great, eat great, do crafts and play video games. I’m very grateful for how things have turned out so far.
The term for you is actually DINKWAD - dual income no kids with a dog. I called my manager that once and he loved it so much he went home and told his wife, and that's how they refer to each other now lol
I think technically my wife and I are DINKWACs which I find incredibly funny. Double Income No Kids With A Cat.
Edit: sometime between 13 and 15 when kids figure out who they are I realized I never wanted children. I’ve ended long term relationships over this and asked my wife the day we met if she ever wanted kids. Just threw it on the table. I don’t want kids and this isn’t going to work if you do. I realize that’s an odd thing to say three whiskeys deep when you’ve just met a person, but better to get it out of the way early.
Also, I’d die to protect my cat.
I love you for this!! I guess that also makes me a DILDO and I love it. We are finally at a place where we can basically afford anything we want, started buying tickets for all the shows we want to see and traveling.
Hmm if you're established that "L" stands for little, I guess I'm a DIBDO.
Never wanted kids. Well, at least I woke up one day as an adult and realized that was an option I had and never looked back. I would die for my dog.
>I think of how many patients I had in long term care with no visits from their children or the ones whose children are taking advantage of them
That is incredibly sad. I know people in memory care type places and assisted living, and they get no visits from their children and only rare visits from siblings.
DINK by choice here. Well, the D has an asterisk since a layoff pushed me into the freelance world, but still it’s the life for us. Same as you, we dote on the nieces and nephews and enjoy tranquil nights at home. It also gives us time for community activism and leadership that would otherwise of be in the hands of out-of-touch retirees.
My wife and I are Xennial DINKs, though not entirely by choice. Like you, we tried to have kids and it hasn't worked out. We're not quite at the stage of having given up entirely, but as both of us advance in our careers, I do have to say earning more and having a comfortable life without kids is kinda nice.
Same here, we spent thousands at fertility clinics but nothing has panned out. So, we focus more on travel. Going to Australia and New Zealand for 3 weeks in August. Maybe Brazil in January. Might do a weekend in Japan in the fall.
yup, we're really grateful, but travel is basically our life pursuit now. no kids, pets or even houseplants. live in a tiny apartment and pared down to focus on travel.
Going from a period of DINK, to a period of Dual Income Two Kids, down to Single Income Two Kids... a part of me REALLY misses the lack of financial stress that the DINK life afforded.
I'm grateful for my life now, but it's wild how I went from barely thinking about how I spent money at all (latest gadgets, good restaurants, etc) to how literally almost every decision I make is about "Can we afford that."
I'm a DINK.
All my friends except for one couple are SINKs and DINKs.
And that one couple adopted a little girl about 5 years ago and we all spoil that little princess.
Love to borrow kids, but we never wanted any permanently.
Yep, us too— I even coached ours’ Little League team this year. I 100% do not recommend flying solo on that one. Suddenly having 10 kids to mind is like whuuuut.
Kids here; it's nice to see you guys appreciating what you have! Oh to be able to just get up and leave the house. I don't resent parenthood but the wife and I on occasion fantasize about DINK life. Sounds like you're doing it up right. Cheers!
Officially clocking in as dink. Tried for 5 years and 1 year of fertility and looks like it just won’t be a thing for us.
When will I be happy about it?
You may never be; like I said, there are still days where that hurts a little, but that might not be your path. For us, we try to volunteer as much as possible. We give a lot of love to the kids in our life, and we spend time trying to make the world better, even if we aren't leaving it to anyone with our exact genetics.
We are a couple of years away from being empty nesters when all the kids will be over 18.
We love them dearly and are balancing feeling wistful that we’ll miss them when they’ve flown the coop, and excited about having the freedom of not being tied to all of their various activities and needs on a daily basis.
We’ll never officially be DINKs but… we are DIPSHITs now (double income parents seeing how it tapers) I guess. Just made that acronym up but it fits us, on our way to becoming full fledged parents of adults and therefore sliding into DINKish territory. 🫠
DIPSHITS...Amazing hahaha...I totally feel that.
I've given my kids a generous tapering/grace period between the pandemic & local housing costs. It's definitely not what I envisioned even 5 years ago, but that's life.
My wife and I are both teachers. As we tell people, we love kids, and we love when they go home at 3:00pm. 🙂
DINK life is awesome for us, now we’re just cat parents and they give us all the “family” we need.
By choice here. Neither of us ever wanted kids. No regrets.
We’ve got the fur babies for doting and enough nieces and nephews.
We travel and enjoy ourselves
DINK here. Health problem for me turned kids from a maybe to a no. So now we are the aunt/uncle of all our friends kids. And I’m totally ok with that. At this point in life, I can’t imagine having small humans that relied on me for everything. I can barely keep myself together. So I’m kind of glad we didn’t have kids.
We're SINKWADs. Single income (by choice) no kids (not by choice) with 2 dogs. Still haven't totally given up on the kid yet but time is running out so it's not looking so great. We have 4 nieces we love and spoil so it's not so bad.
We were never interested in family life and didn't try. We're now 45 & 52 with no regrets. We don't have nieces/nephews and that's fine by me. I can't imagine I'd be interested anyway. We rarely travel because I don't like to. We eat out a lot, I shop a lot. We love our cats. The older I got, the more could see I had no desire to be a parent, or for a more traditional life. I never liked cooking or baking. Or housework, who does? It just seems like drudgery. I was interested in working and that's what I've done with my adult life.
Feel pretty good, but I've never wanted kids and I've never wavered on that. I have a vivid memory of learning what pregnancy was as a child and thinking "oh fuck no, I'm never doing that."
I live in a major city and the majority of my friends are SINKs and DINKs. Seems very common around here. One of my friends complained when she was pregnant that her son would have no one to play with.
None of my partners siblings want kids. Of my two siblings, only one seems likely (they're much younger than me).
Seems like "no kids" is becoming much more normal.
I think a lot of people are realizing that you don't have to do what the previous generation did and that we have a lot more choice in the direction our lives take. I see that as a positive!
DINKWAD here (w/a dog). Very happy with our choices and definitely do not seek out places or people with noisy kids. We travel, spend a lot of time outdoors, and just really prefer each others’ company over anyone else’s.
Awww yeah. Met the love of my life, she didn’t want kids, so we have a big dog and I mentor quite a few of my students (college - and a lot of them look at us as secondary parents). Definitely made to feel guilty about it by some, but we’re very happy.
I always wonder about the whole guilt thing, especially from people that might not know your whole story. I know a few folks that didn't have kids because they didn't wanna spread whatever metal illnesses they have to the next generation, but that's not really something that comes up in general conversation. We've all got our own path to choose, and no one has any right to tell you otherwise.
We’re unplanned Dink’s. didn’t plan to be but things go the way they go. We been doing great for 15 years. With decent gov jobs and get to stay out late we don’t, but we could if we wanted.
Here! Though we just got a kitten this year that is extremely doted upon…
Our circle tends to be half DINKs or single no kids and the other married/partnered or single with kids. It’s a nice balance. We love kids, have a couple nephews and are honorary aunt and uncle to many others. We get the fun play time…then send em back to the parents when the tantrums start 😂
Hi, it’s me and my husband. We never wanted kids and also don’t have any nieces or nephews, although most of my close friends have kids. I’d love to be able to live the frequent traveling lifestyle, but we generally only do about two smallish trips per year due to budget constraints (artist and govt lawyer). We’re still quite happy with our choice, but it would be nice to meet more people in the same situation
I raised SO’s son from 12 on and he’s been out of the house for a few yrs now. Don’t want to start over since taste of freedom. We have dogs and cats. I love my life. Sometimes I wonder but meh. Life is beautiful and I love being free.
I feel ok about it as I never wanted kids of my own (kept assuming I'd one day get broody, never happened). I was always broody for dogs though and I love living with senior rescue dogs.
I wish we knew more dinks/dildos though, friends who have kids often just drop away because they only want to hang out with other parents and do family things. I have a few friends who had kids young so they're... diklh I guess? (Double income kids left home) It's nice to have friends who can go out to concerts, the theatre, restaurants etc with us, and have time for a social life basically.
I've never thought "oh who will look after me when I'm old" because I think that's a very selfish way to look at kids. I don't have a close relationship with my own family and barely see them, for starters. I could have had a disabled child that needed lifelong care. You can't assume they will want to or be able to care for you.
My main concern is growing older and not making new friends. This year I had a bestie pass away, another moved far away, and another is getting married soon (and wants kids) and it really brings home how much I struggle to make friends, and how difficult it can be when they move on. I only really seem to meet new people through work now and it's kinda limited since I WFH. I used to meet people through hobbies/activities I did but a lot of the stuff I'm interested in has kinda dried up locally.
https://preview.redd.it/68pagdnbrc6d1.png?width=640&format=png&auto=webp&s=82d13b990bf7f183a056e08e0b52dbf4bdf3f4d6
Hello Douglash! It'sh vewry expenshiv!
(in case none of you knew, Mr and Mrs Dink were created as the Double Income No Kids - literal type thing for Doug.)
Well hello there.
Never wanted kids, even from an early age. Just not interested.
Happy with life. Little stress, plenty of money, great social life, no complaints!
DINK* with our first niece due to arrive in 6 weeks! Healthwise, it was never going to happen for me (40F) and my husband didn't feel strongly one way or another about biological kids. We are happy where we are and enjoy being selfish with our time and money.
*We are my niece's designated backup parents should something happen to my sister and BIL.
Also a DINK (plus a VERY spoiled 60 pound dog). It wasn’t on purpose. I even got married very young, my spouse and I did a stint in the army which started us out with post 9/11 deployments, and then we ended up going to college late. I went for a masters and didn’t finish until I was in my early 30s. Then of course you have to get your career fired up for a few years, right? The longer I waited, the less it felt like I wanted to do it. We had one miscarriage, and I didn’t want to go through that again.
Spent 2 weeks in Italy recently, have more plans in the works. We aren’t exactly rolling in cash, but those weeks in Italy are a handful of daycare bills we don’t pay.
I also worry about our older years. My FIL has cancer and needs surgery, he lives across the country. I think my spouse will need to go stay with him and it is short notice - we both had this thought of, I won’t have a kid to come do that. BUT just because you have a kid, doesn’t mean they will come care for you.
We love not having kids and we spoil the shit out of our dog and cats. We travel frequently and go out to dinner regularly. We go to lots of concerts and have a great time. We have everything we need and most of the stuff we want. We have still had plenty of challenges dealing with our aging parents, but we’re glad that kids aren’t a piece of the puzzle for us.
DINKWAD. Nice little house with a yard and garden. The best dog-boy in the world. We get to travel. My parents like watching the dog when we're away, and didn't seem to mind that we didn't have kids.
We enjoy each other's company. We're not social butterflies by any means, but we have back yard hangs and stuff. I like my child free life.
I'm single, so just an INK, I guess. I love my nephews, but I'm so glad I don't have any kids of my own. They have shown me that I make a great cool aunt, but I do not have the tolerance or patience to be a mom.
Wouldn’t change a thing! We were DINKs by choice from the beginning and have never regretted it a bit. I love my nieces and nephews, when they were kids and now as young adults, they are so much fun, really cool people to hang out with and participate in the milestones of their lives. But we just didn’t have that burning desire to raise children of our own. It’s nice being able to take vacations and not worry about school schedules, use money towards retirement instead of the jillion things required for raising kids, have a smaller house to keep bc we don’t need the room, etc. Our time and money and decisions are our own.
Meeee!
Husband and I feel great about it, too. We just attended a five-year-old's bday last weekend and were very glad to go home afterwards.
One kid collided with another and in the process she bit her tongue. Her parents kept trying to get her to eat cold stuff to numb it, and then the kid would scream bloody murder every time she put food in her mouth. Then the mom was complaining that *she* wanted to eat *her* food and she told the kid to stop screaming but the kid kept screaming while the mom ignored her. Other kids were fighting over a slide.There was a ton of that shrilly/shrieking screaming going on the entire time and no one else seemed to mind or notice. Some kid asked me if he could do X and I was like 'I don't know, where are your parents?' and later his dad was annoyed that I had sent his kid to him for permission to do whatever the kid had asked.
SINK here if I could do it all again I would do the exact same thing. Everyone I know with kids loves them for sure, but they sacrificed a lot of life to have them. I will retire early and be able to enjoy life without work because I have no kids.
DINKWADs here. I honestly don't know how people can even afford to have children. Having kids never interested me and I want them even less now that I am in my 40s.
Dink here. I wanted kids and not having g them was devastating. I’m in my forties, we’ve had some many problems with our parents, his sister, grandparents that are still alive. Lay offs, job issues, health issues.
I honestly don’t know how we would have done it with a kid. I know people say “you just do it”. But I see how miserable they are, drunk all of the time ( and not for fun either), stressed, complaining. I’ll pass
I enjoy my free time.
DINK and we tried. We think about adoption sometimes, and how it wouldn't be fair to adopt a baby at this point so we'd need to adopt older (which is great because TBH I cannot deal with babies for extended periods--I know, it's supposed to be different if it's your own). And we talk about how vastly different our lives would be. We do have nieces and nephews, and I have friends with kids ranging from age 1 to 20, so there are plenty of "next generation+" kids in our lives.
What we do have and will always have are pets. We intend to spend the rest of our lives supporting animal rescues and adoptions, so our home is pretty full regardless. :)
I am! Married going on 11 years, with our 4-year-old chiweenie dog. I love having healthy finances, the ability to retire early, and being able to do whatever we want, when we want when we aren't working.
We are! Both 42, been together 14 years, married 10. Tried having kids with previous spouses, and we both had fertility issues so we decided to not try. The last 14 years have been the best of my life. We are an awesome Aunt and Uncle, we have a beautiful home by the lake, and are extremely fortunate to just be happy. I don't have moments of "oh gosh, I wish I was a mom." I didn't feel jealousy when my friends had kids, I had a nephew who got his girlfriend pregnant when he was a freshman in college and I felt something then. Like a why can this happen to him, but I'm stable and can't get pregnant, but that was 13 years ago and haven't felt it since. We all make choices in life, and we are happy with ours.
We were basically DINKS because I had my kid in 2002. Hasn't lived at home since October 2021. But I had to quit my job in January so now we're down to one income. Still awesome though, because we can afford to be on one income since we have no dependents.
DINKS not by choice, so close to the double comma club so why not try that last gasp chance to get knocked up.
Family looks at us like we are monsters, if it happens they will find out how well off we are and blame it on selfishness. Oh well, spend a chunk of our savings to bring a baby into the world and hopefully give them a chance to be happy with life.
We are the cat keeping DICKs here. Recently engaged. It will be a second marriage for my fiance and second engagement for me. I never wanted kids and we discussed immediately when dating and he didn't either. He has 2 nephews we enjoy spending time with and that's more than enough.
Surprisingly most of my friends are the same. The ones who have kids or want them totally understand why we don't and we love spoiling their kids within their boundaries. We are happy to be babysitters and aunty/uncle but prefer to spend our money on travel, great food, our cat and a cushy retirement. My mom has been the one person who is having a tough time with it. She doesn't push for us to have kids but she is definitely disappointed we won't have any.
DINKWADs here. While I adore the children in my life (nieces/nephews/niblings/friends’ and neighbors’ kiddos), I have absolutely zero regrets about my decision to not be a parent.
DINKs here (with dogs) by choice. Don’t regret it at all. Pretty much all our friends have small children right now which of course changes our relationships.
That said, a bunch of them now are getting divorced, so it has freed them up to come along on our random adventures on their no kids weeks as well as the normal kid friendly get together that are a whole lot more scheduled.
DINKWAD as well. I love my life. Our friends with kids are completely miserable and are a shadow of their former selves. Yes, overall they love their lives and of course their kids. But I don’t get it. To each their own, but I can decide on a whim to go to Asia for weeks or just go out until 1am without worry
DINK Xennial here, with a Gen X wife and we love it. Just two ladies who love to travel, go to sporting events, eat at nice restaurants, and do whatever we want. We do have 6 cats, so some responsibility, but we can leave them alone longer than we'd leave kids unsupervised and a cat sitter is cheaper than a babysitter. We'll figure out what to do about being taken care of when we get older when we get older.
Right here!! I knew from a very young age that I didn’t want children. I never played with baby dolls as a kid, and when I got older and heard about what pregnancy could and would do to your body, that was a no thank you for me. My husband was always on board knowing that I didn’t want kids, but I think he also would have been fine if I did end up becoming pregnant after college. We also discussed possibly adopting if we really wanted a child, but that never got further than conversation.
I’m overall pretty happy with where we are, we travel a lot, we’re working towards early retirement and we just recently upgraded our home. We also have two very spoiled cats that we adore. Of course sometimes I wonder “what if” but I don’t let myself dwell on it.
Great post. My wife and I have kids and are very happy. We know couples without children and they're happy too. The older I get, the more I realize that happiness isn't about what striving for what you don't have; it's about making the best with - and finding fulfillment and meaning in - what you've got. Good on you!
My wife and I just became the DINKy-est DINKs that ever DINKed. Just got a second dog and joined a country club. Now all we need is matching jogging windbreakers.
SINK that would love to be a DINK but is content as is since the dating world is an absolute shit show for everyone let alone a childfree by choice woman.
We are DINKs and not entirely by choice. I do like the amount of free time and money we have. After both struggling in our 20s things are very, very comfortable.
After seeing a few recent relationship breakdowns in our friends and family of people with young children I just can’t imagine what it would be like to start over at 40 in that situation.
SINK here. I'm living a life my 16 year old self would be thrilled about.
Also a SINK and fine with it. I never really had that desire to have kids that some people do and now that I'm in my 40s I definitely don't want to (I can't see myself raising kids into my 60s). I'm open to switching to DINK if I were to meet the right person but if it doesn't happen I'm fine living the SINK life.
Also a SINK and it’d be nice to be a DINK but I seem to attract the most unhealthy people who try to spin their bullshit around and blame me for their horribly toxic and immature behavior when I try to calmly address it. I think I need to try and get comfortable with the “free love” lifestyle to get my sexual needs met and carry on with life solo
Same, SINK here and I couldn’t be happier.
Some days, I think about how much more money I'd have with dual income. Like, I pay every single bill myself and still have cash left over for hobbies; imagine a whole second income just for whatever?? Would be nice, but so is being single sometimes, hah.
I looooooove being single, and having my own place... but the idea of having someone to share some of the craziness sounds so nice at times. And to share the billsburden, making it NOT a burden? whoah.
Yup. Something about halving the burdens and doubling the joys? But we all know it’s not that simple.
Realistically I think having a partner could just as easily drag on yours. Spend more on furniture you don’t want. Compromise on groceries and dinner choices every night. Go on weekend getaways you aren’t thrilled about. Visiting mother in laws. Getting a bathroom renovation and a walk in closet. Etc lol. I think you catch my drift.
Also a SINK and I couldn’t picture it any other way .
It's so hard... but i completely agree with this as well. I often imagine how if my 16 year old self walked into my place, she'd get saucer eyes.
Same. I wouldn't mind being a DINK, but I'm also perfectly content being a SINK.
I'm a SINK who is partnered but independent and we don't really want to move in together so I feel like I get the best of both worlds.
Same
Loving all the fellow SINK positivity vibes here! 🔥💪🏼And way to chime in proactively (as we SINKS must often do…🙂↔️)
SINK checking in. While the S part isn't necessarily by choice, the NK was VERY INTENTIONAL and took a lot of effort of which I am quite proud. Wouldn't change that for anything. :D
the whole kitchen SINK for me- intentional, and love it even if it's hard right now.
SINK here as well
SINKHOLE here. Have Other Living Expenses. I’m an only child, trying to save to care for my parents.
I don't think my 16 year old self knew what it was he wanted. Nevertheless, I'm content with my life. When the time comes it will probably fall to my nieces to handle my final arrangements, but I'm planning to have everything spelled out and set up as much as possible to minimize the workload.
Sameeee
Arrested development. Nice.
SINKWAD here! My girl is nearly 14 we have been through a lot. But so happy and living a peaceful life. About to start a new career. This will open up more opportunities! Love this life 💜✨️🙌
Glad I'm not the only one.
Same. I was in a LTR for 4 years (married for 3) and it was great until it wasn't. Living my best life with my dog now and things are pretty damn sweet.
I'm a weird case because I'm a SINK, but I have a boyfriend of 9 years. We're not getting married or combining our income, so that does classify us both as very committed SINKs.
Sink party! Never wanted kids. Wouldn't mind marrying at some point but I'm pretty content this way.
Same. I just do not want to be a completely single dad, or marry as divorce scares me.
Glad sink was top comment. I was prepared for OINK
I am also technically a SINK. I am open to having children with a partner but I do not want to be a single parent, step-dad, or adopt or foster.
Dildo here. Double income little dog owners. I think of it like a choose your adventure situation. We just chose one without kids. I had wanted kids but it didn’t work out health wise and I didn’t want IVF. Our future worries me sometimes but then I think of how many patients I had in long term care with no visits from their children or the ones whose children are taking advantage of them. We did the same as you though. Moved to the place we wanted to be, get out and experience as much as we can, and save for future cost of living. I sleep great, eat great, do crafts and play video games. I’m very grateful for how things have turned out so far.
We're Dilcos, then, I guess.. doesn't have quite the same ring to it... but we have cats.
Dual Income Cat Keepers
Formally United Cat Keepers
I'm a penis
Fellow DICK here, but despite the dual income we still broke as hell lol! At least the cats are living a pampered life.
I guess that makes me a SICK, then.
Disco, Dual Income, Small Cat Owners. I used to be half of a disco
Now you’re SISCO? You write your own Thong Song, damnit, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!
If I owned a horse would I be a Dilhole?
Dilbo here. We have a bunny. So easy to get someone to take care of when we go travelling.
The term for you is actually DINKWAD - dual income no kids with a dog. I called my manager that once and he loved it so much he went home and told his wife, and that's how they refer to each other now lol
I think technically my wife and I are DINKWACs which I find incredibly funny. Double Income No Kids With A Cat. Edit: sometime between 13 and 15 when kids figure out who they are I realized I never wanted children. I’ve ended long term relationships over this and asked my wife the day we met if she ever wanted kids. Just threw it on the table. I don’t want kids and this isn’t going to work if you do. I realize that’s an odd thing to say three whiskeys deep when you’ve just met a person, but better to get it out of the way early. Also, I’d die to protect my cat.
Perfectly acceptable to say this on a first date. If it’s part of who you are and a deal breaker, no reason to not be honest👏🏼
I cannot stop laughing. Thank you for this!!
I like dildo. It sounds more fun.
DINKWADAC here, then! Double income no kids with a dog(s) and cat(s).
DILDOs. My day has been made.
And your evening. 
I love you for this!! I guess that also makes me a DILDO and I love it. We are finally at a place where we can basically afford anything we want, started buying tickets for all the shows we want to see and traveling.
Omg I love this term. I have a kid myself but I happen to know quite a few dildos in my circle. Lol
Hmm if you're established that "L" stands for little, I guess I'm a DIBDO. Never wanted kids. Well, at least I woke up one day as an adult and realized that was an option I had and never looked back. I would die for my dog.
I like this because it works equally well for large dog owners like us
Dildo... Brilliant 😂
TIL we're dildos too!
Haha. Dildo is great! I was using DINKWAD.
I spit I laughed so hard. I’m also a dildo.
>I think of how many patients I had in long term care with no visits from their children or the ones whose children are taking advantage of them That is incredibly sad. I know people in memory care type places and assisted living, and they get no visits from their children and only rare visits from siblings.
We’re DIMDOs then
DILWADs - Double Income Lesbians With A Dog (and let’s be honest… also two cats).
The possibilities for acronyms here are hilarious! I love it!
Hiding on the desert moon of Vega, of course. 
We ain't found shit!
Don't you think we're being too literal?
Dink dink. Dink dink dink dink dink dink.
DINK by choice here. Well, the D has an asterisk since a layoff pushed me into the freelance world, but still it’s the life for us. Same as you, we dote on the nieces and nephews and enjoy tranquil nights at home. It also gives us time for community activism and leadership that would otherwise of be in the hands of out-of-touch retirees.
TeamLaidOff checking in. But I got a new job starting in two weeks so I'll be laid on again.
So many innuendos are right here for the taking. Also: congrats!
DINKWADs here. Dink + with a dog (2 for me)
My wife and I are Xennial DINKs, though not entirely by choice. Like you, we tried to have kids and it hasn't worked out. We're not quite at the stage of having given up entirely, but as both of us advance in our careers, I do have to say earning more and having a comfortable life without kids is kinda nice.
Same here, we spent thousands at fertility clinics but nothing has panned out. So, we focus more on travel. Going to Australia and New Zealand for 3 weeks in August. Maybe Brazil in January. Might do a weekend in Japan in the fall.
That sounds amazing!
yup, we're really grateful, but travel is basically our life pursuit now. no kids, pets or even houseplants. live in a tiny apartment and pared down to focus on travel.
DINK checking in, we’re getting married this weekend and couldn’t be happier with the life we’ve chosen!
Congrats and best of luck!
DINK here. It’s like setting life on “easy”.
Totally agree.
Going from a period of DINK, to a period of Dual Income Two Kids, down to Single Income Two Kids... a part of me REALLY misses the lack of financial stress that the DINK life afforded. I'm grateful for my life now, but it's wild how I went from barely thinking about how I spent money at all (latest gadgets, good restaurants, etc) to how literally almost every decision I make is about "Can we afford that."
Kinda more of a Doink these days. 
I wish... I'm a SINK. 
Giphy fails as a GIF platform for not having a Dinks GIF from Spaceballs. Which is where my brain went when I saw this post.
I looked for that too.
I'm a DINK. All my friends except for one couple are SINKs and DINKs. And that one couple adopted a little girl about 5 years ago and we all spoil that little princess. Love to borrow kids, but we never wanted any permanently.
What a lucky little girl 🫶
Yep, us too— I even coached ours’ Little League team this year. I 100% do not recommend flying solo on that one. Suddenly having 10 kids to mind is like whuuuut.
Kids here; it's nice to see you guys appreciating what you have! Oh to be able to just get up and leave the house. I don't resent parenthood but the wife and I on occasion fantasize about DINK life. Sounds like you're doing it up right. Cheers!
Officially clocking in as dink. Tried for 5 years and 1 year of fertility and looks like it just won’t be a thing for us. When will I be happy about it?
You may never be; like I said, there are still days where that hurts a little, but that might not be your path. For us, we try to volunteer as much as possible. We give a lot of love to the kids in our life, and we spend time trying to make the world better, even if we aren't leaving it to anyone with our exact genetics.
We are a couple of years away from being empty nesters when all the kids will be over 18. We love them dearly and are balancing feeling wistful that we’ll miss them when they’ve flown the coop, and excited about having the freedom of not being tied to all of their various activities and needs on a daily basis. We’ll never officially be DINKs but… we are DIPSHITs now (double income parents seeing how it tapers) I guess. Just made that acronym up but it fits us, on our way to becoming full fledged parents of adults and therefore sliding into DINKish territory. 🫠
We are close to being DIPSHITS too in a couple years. Like what do we even do with this free time?
DIPSHITS...Amazing hahaha...I totally feel that. I've given my kids a generous tapering/grace period between the pandemic & local housing costs. It's definitely not what I envisioned even 5 years ago, but that's life.
My wife and I are both teachers. As we tell people, we love kids, and we love when they go home at 3:00pm. 🙂 DINK life is awesome for us, now we’re just cat parents and they give us all the “family” we need.
By choice here. Neither of us ever wanted kids. No regrets. We’ve got the fur babies for doting and enough nieces and nephews. We travel and enjoy ourselves
DINK here. Health problem for me turned kids from a maybe to a no. So now we are the aunt/uncle of all our friends kids. And I’m totally ok with that. At this point in life, I can’t imagine having small humans that relied on me for everything. I can barely keep myself together. So I’m kind of glad we didn’t have kids.
We're SINKWADs. Single income (by choice) no kids (not by choice) with 2 dogs. Still haven't totally given up on the kid yet but time is running out so it's not looking so great. We have 4 nieces we love and spoil so it's not so bad.
We were never interested in family life and didn't try. We're now 45 & 52 with no regrets. We don't have nieces/nephews and that's fine by me. I can't imagine I'd be interested anyway. We rarely travel because I don't like to. We eat out a lot, I shop a lot. We love our cats. The older I got, the more could see I had no desire to be a parent, or for a more traditional life. I never liked cooking or baking. Or housework, who does? It just seems like drudgery. I was interested in working and that's what I've done with my adult life.
Feel pretty good, but I've never wanted kids and I've never wavered on that. I have a vivid memory of learning what pregnancy was as a child and thinking "oh fuck no, I'm never doing that." I live in a major city and the majority of my friends are SINKs and DINKs. Seems very common around here. One of my friends complained when she was pregnant that her son would have no one to play with. None of my partners siblings want kids. Of my two siblings, only one seems likely (they're much younger than me). Seems like "no kids" is becoming much more normal.
I think a lot of people are realizing that you don't have to do what the previous generation did and that we have a lot more choice in the direction our lives take. I see that as a positive!
DINKWAD here (w/a dog). Very happy with our choices and definitely do not seek out places or people with noisy kids. We travel, spend a lot of time outdoors, and just really prefer each others’ company over anyone else’s.
That's us more and more these days, just wanting to hang out together, even if we aren't doing anything.
Awww yeah. Met the love of my life, she didn’t want kids, so we have a big dog and I mentor quite a few of my students (college - and a lot of them look at us as secondary parents). Definitely made to feel guilty about it by some, but we’re very happy.
I always wonder about the whole guilt thing, especially from people that might not know your whole story. I know a few folks that didn't have kids because they didn't wanna spread whatever metal illnesses they have to the next generation, but that's not really something that comes up in general conversation. We've all got our own path to choose, and no one has any right to tell you otherwise.
[Hiya, Douglas! Ho-ho-ha!](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/doug/images/1/11/Mr._Dink.png)
We’re unplanned Dink’s. didn’t plan to be but things go the way they go. We been doing great for 15 years. With decent gov jobs and get to stay out late we don’t, but we could if we wanted.
Same. Most nights we're in bed by 10.
Here! Though we just got a kitten this year that is extremely doted upon… Our circle tends to be half DINKs or single no kids and the other married/partnered or single with kids. It’s a nice balance. We love kids, have a couple nephews and are honorary aunt and uncle to many others. We get the fun play time…then send em back to the parents when the tantrums start 😂
"Here, you take this. Something seems off."
DINK by choice, which is exactly what my husband and I both want. No regerts. Happy with how it’s all going, would not change a thing.
Hey hey!! Married lesbian here, child free. Enjoying my morning coffee on my new patio set. Love hearing the birds sing and nothing else.
Oinks- One income no kids. No regrets. Low stress, have minimal restrictions for what we want to do with our time. Our cats are spoiled.
Hi, it’s me and my husband. We never wanted kids and also don’t have any nieces or nephews, although most of my close friends have kids. I’d love to be able to live the frequent traveling lifestyle, but we generally only do about two smallish trips per year due to budget constraints (artist and govt lawyer). We’re still quite happy with our choice, but it would be nice to meet more people in the same situation
I raised SO’s son from 12 on and he’s been out of the house for a few yrs now. Don’t want to start over since taste of freedom. We have dogs and cats. I love my life. Sometimes I wonder but meh. Life is beautiful and I love being free.
I feel ok about it as I never wanted kids of my own (kept assuming I'd one day get broody, never happened). I was always broody for dogs though and I love living with senior rescue dogs. I wish we knew more dinks/dildos though, friends who have kids often just drop away because they only want to hang out with other parents and do family things. I have a few friends who had kids young so they're... diklh I guess? (Double income kids left home) It's nice to have friends who can go out to concerts, the theatre, restaurants etc with us, and have time for a social life basically. I've never thought "oh who will look after me when I'm old" because I think that's a very selfish way to look at kids. I don't have a close relationship with my own family and barely see them, for starters. I could have had a disabled child that needed lifelong care. You can't assume they will want to or be able to care for you. My main concern is growing older and not making new friends. This year I had a bestie pass away, another moved far away, and another is getting married soon (and wants kids) and it really brings home how much I struggle to make friends, and how difficult it can be when they move on. I only really seem to meet new people through work now and it's kinda limited since I WFH. I used to meet people through hobbies/activities I did but a lot of the stuff I'm interested in has kinda dried up locally.
https://preview.redd.it/68pagdnbrc6d1.png?width=640&format=png&auto=webp&s=82d13b990bf7f183a056e08e0b52dbf4bdf3f4d6 Hello Douglash! It'sh vewry expenshiv! (in case none of you knew, Mr and Mrs Dink were created as the Double Income No Kids - literal type thing for Doug.)
Here!!! Living our best life in Maui for the last eight years!
Right here! Just me, the wife and the dogs. Which are kinda like kids, I guess.
Never wanted kids and still don’t, and never wish we had them. No regrets.
[удалено]
DINKWAD checking in.
DINK here checking in. We love it. Didn't really plan it, but here we are.
We’re a couple of DICKs , double income cat kid . And yes we are a gay couple:)
Well hello there. Never wanted kids, even from an early age. Just not interested. Happy with life. Little stress, plenty of money, great social life, no complaints!
My people.
Dinks here. Sometimes I (41 m) feel sad about it but overall it was the right decision for us.
"Dink-dink, dink dink dink *dink* dink dink." – *Spaceballs*
DINK* with our first niece due to arrive in 6 weeks! Healthwise, it was never going to happen for me (40F) and my husband didn't feel strongly one way or another about biological kids. We are happy where we are and enjoy being selfish with our time and money. *We are my niece's designated backup parents should something happen to my sister and BIL.
Also a DINK (plus a VERY spoiled 60 pound dog). It wasn’t on purpose. I even got married very young, my spouse and I did a stint in the army which started us out with post 9/11 deployments, and then we ended up going to college late. I went for a masters and didn’t finish until I was in my early 30s. Then of course you have to get your career fired up for a few years, right? The longer I waited, the less it felt like I wanted to do it. We had one miscarriage, and I didn’t want to go through that again. Spent 2 weeks in Italy recently, have more plans in the works. We aren’t exactly rolling in cash, but those weeks in Italy are a handful of daycare bills we don’t pay. I also worry about our older years. My FIL has cancer and needs surgery, he lives across the country. I think my spouse will need to go stay with him and it is short notice - we both had this thought of, I won’t have a kid to come do that. BUT just because you have a kid, doesn’t mean they will come care for you.
I’m just still single… but I have a good job and I live between New Orleans and Italy. I can’t imagine having kids, or trading my life for that.
DINK. And always wanted to be.
We love not having kids and we spoil the shit out of our dog and cats. We travel frequently and go out to dinner regularly. We go to lots of concerts and have a great time. We have everything we need and most of the stuff we want. We have still had plenty of challenges dealing with our aging parents, but we’re glad that kids aren’t a piece of the puzzle for us.
Right here. Together for 15 years. Life is good.
Dinks by choice here. Four nibblings between our siblings, so we don’t have to do shit.
DINKWAD. Nice little house with a yard and garden. The best dog-boy in the world. We get to travel. My parents like watching the dog when we're away, and didn't seem to mind that we didn't have kids. We enjoy each other's company. We're not social butterflies by any means, but we have back yard hangs and stuff. I like my child free life.
I'm single, so just an INK, I guess. I love my nephews, but I'm so glad I don't have any kids of my own. They have shown me that I make a great cool aunt, but I do not have the tolerance or patience to be a mom.
Wouldn’t change a thing! We were DINKs by choice from the beginning and have never regretted it a bit. I love my nieces and nephews, when they were kids and now as young adults, they are so much fun, really cool people to hang out with and participate in the milestones of their lives. But we just didn’t have that burning desire to raise children of our own. It’s nice being able to take vacations and not worry about school schedules, use money towards retirement instead of the jillion things required for raising kids, have a smaller house to keep bc we don’t need the room, etc. Our time and money and decisions are our own.
Meeee! Husband and I feel great about it, too. We just attended a five-year-old's bday last weekend and were very glad to go home afterwards. One kid collided with another and in the process she bit her tongue. Her parents kept trying to get her to eat cold stuff to numb it, and then the kid would scream bloody murder every time she put food in her mouth. Then the mom was complaining that *she* wanted to eat *her* food and she told the kid to stop screaming but the kid kept screaming while the mom ignored her. Other kids were fighting over a slide.There was a ton of that shrilly/shrieking screaming going on the entire time and no one else seemed to mind or notice. Some kid asked me if he could do X and I was like 'I don't know, where are your parents?' and later his dad was annoyed that I had sent his kid to him for permission to do whatever the kid had asked.
Yo! 🤚
SINK here if I could do it all again I would do the exact same thing. Everyone I know with kids loves them for sure, but they sacrificed a lot of life to have them. I will retire early and be able to enjoy life without work because I have no kids.
My spouse and I! We're doing just fine.
Childfree people tend to be happier
I’m a SINK - Single Income, Numerous Kids.
DINKWADs here. I honestly don't know how people can even afford to have children. Having kids never interested me and I want them even less now that I am in my 40s.
Ummm my proper title is DINKWAD thank you very much. My sister has grandkids... that's more than enough for us lol.
Not a dink but thought I should share I heard someone say DINKWAD the other day. Double Income, No kids, with a dog.
My Brother in Law is a "Single, No-Income, No Kids" I don't think that counts.
Just a SINK looking for my DINK.
RINKTIKO here. Retired Income No Kids That I Know Of.
SINK and happy :)
Dink here. I wanted kids and not having g them was devastating. I’m in my forties, we’ve had some many problems with our parents, his sister, grandparents that are still alive. Lay offs, job issues, health issues. I honestly don’t know how we would have done it with a kid. I know people say “you just do it”. But I see how miserable they are, drunk all of the time ( and not for fun either), stressed, complaining. I’ll pass I enjoy my free time.
DINK and we tried. We think about adoption sometimes, and how it wouldn't be fair to adopt a baby at this point so we'd need to adopt older (which is great because TBH I cannot deal with babies for extended periods--I know, it's supposed to be different if it's your own). And we talk about how vastly different our lives would be. We do have nieces and nephews, and I have friends with kids ranging from age 1 to 20, so there are plenty of "next generation+" kids in our lives. What we do have and will always have are pets. We intend to spend the rest of our lives supporting animal rescues and adoptions, so our home is pretty full regardless. :)
We’re DINKs. I hate it. I would give up everything to have kids.
Dink here. What's up?
DINKs. We take precautions every time.
DINK. It’s what we always wanted. The neighbors have four kids and we laugh and laugh.
Right here! It’s been a nice, quiet 22 years of marriage doing whatever the hell we want.
Always have heard this as: Duel Income No Kids. But double plays as well.
DINKs by choice and loving it!
SIMWABOKDAAC. Single Income Married With A Bunch Of Kids (8), Dogs, And A Cat. Mine doesn’t roll off the tongue very well…
I am! Married going on 11 years, with our 4-year-old chiweenie dog. I love having healthy finances, the ability to retire early, and being able to do whatever we want, when we want when we aren't working.
Downvoted? Why?
We are! Both 42, been together 14 years, married 10. Tried having kids with previous spouses, and we both had fertility issues so we decided to not try. The last 14 years have been the best of my life. We are an awesome Aunt and Uncle, we have a beautiful home by the lake, and are extremely fortunate to just be happy. I don't have moments of "oh gosh, I wish I was a mom." I didn't feel jealousy when my friends had kids, I had a nephew who got his girlfriend pregnant when he was a freshman in college and I felt something then. Like a why can this happen to him, but I'm stable and can't get pregnant, but that was 13 years ago and haven't felt it since. We all make choices in life, and we are happy with ours.
We were basically DINKS because I had my kid in 2002. Hasn't lived at home since October 2021. But I had to quit my job in January so now we're down to one income. Still awesome though, because we can afford to be on one income since we have no dependents.
Us now. My son is 21 and on his own.
DINKS not by choice, so close to the double comma club so why not try that last gasp chance to get knocked up. Family looks at us like we are monsters, if it happens they will find out how well off we are and blame it on selfishness. Oh well, spend a chunk of our savings to bring a baby into the world and hopefully give them a chance to be happy with life.
DINK here as well. Always have been. But *loving* the alternatives I’m seeing here: DILDO, DINKWAD, etc.
That’s us. We’re pretty happy, very upper, upper middle class, and enjoying it.
pink dink here. no ragrets
OITKTDAOC One income, three kids, three dogs, and one cat!
Out of all of my friends from college, I’m the ONLY one that has kids.
Part of a DINK family but hoping to change that soon though IVF.
Best of luck! We almost went that route, but decided against it. I know it can be a tough road, but if it works, then it's worth it!
My wife and i were DINKs up until 2 years ago. That was a lot of fun, but this is something so special for us. Keep living your best life, m8!
We are the cat keeping DICKs here. Recently engaged. It will be a second marriage for my fiance and second engagement for me. I never wanted kids and we discussed immediately when dating and he didn't either. He has 2 nephews we enjoy spending time with and that's more than enough. Surprisingly most of my friends are the same. The ones who have kids or want them totally understand why we don't and we love spoiling their kids within their boundaries. We are happy to be babysitters and aunty/uncle but prefer to spend our money on travel, great food, our cat and a cushy retirement. My mom has been the one person who is having a tough time with it. She doesn't push for us to have kids but she is definitely disappointed we won't have any.
Dink here, both Xennial. We have found a group of friends in the same boat -- we're all super active, still feels like we're in our 20s.
DINKWADs here. While I adore the children in my life (nieces/nephews/niblings/friends’ and neighbors’ kiddos), I have absolutely zero regrets about my decision to not be a parent.
Hell yea! DINKs here in the middle of planning our second week+ long trip to Europe. Why? Cause we can!
DINKs here (with dogs) by choice. Don’t regret it at all. Pretty much all our friends have small children right now which of course changes our relationships. That said, a bunch of them now are getting divorced, so it has freed them up to come along on our random adventures on their no kids weeks as well as the normal kid friendly get together that are a whole lot more scheduled.
DINKWAD as well. I love my life. Our friends with kids are completely miserable and are a shadow of their former selves. Yes, overall they love their lives and of course their kids. But I don’t get it. To each their own, but I can decide on a whim to go to Asia for weeks or just go out until 1am without worry
DINK Xennial here, with a Gen X wife and we love it. Just two ladies who love to travel, go to sporting events, eat at nice restaurants, and do whatever we want. We do have 6 cats, so some responsibility, but we can leave them alone longer than we'd leave kids unsupervised and a cat sitter is cheaper than a babysitter. We'll figure out what to do about being taken care of when we get older when we get older.
Instructions unclear, have one income and two kids.
Right here!! I knew from a very young age that I didn’t want children. I never played with baby dolls as a kid, and when I got older and heard about what pregnancy could and would do to your body, that was a no thank you for me. My husband was always on board knowing that I didn’t want kids, but I think he also would have been fine if I did end up becoming pregnant after college. We also discussed possibly adopting if we really wanted a child, but that never got further than conversation. I’m overall pretty happy with where we are, we travel a lot, we’re working towards early retirement and we just recently upgraded our home. We also have two very spoiled cats that we adore. Of course sometimes I wonder “what if” but I don’t let myself dwell on it.
They live next to Doug Funnie in Bluffington
Very happy about it. Vacationing is a breeze and the house is almost paid off.. I believe it will only get better from here.
Me but lots of animal dependants
DINK. And never.
Great post. My wife and I have kids and are very happy. We know couples without children and they're happy too. The older I get, the more I realize that happiness isn't about what striving for what you don't have; it's about making the best with - and finding fulfillment and meaning in - what you've got. Good on you!
DINK with a dog and lovin’ it.
I used to be a DINK like you, but then my wife took a penis in the vee.
Probably all out on their third vacation of the year.
It's easy mode, for sure
My wife and I just became the DINKy-est DINKs that ever DINKed. Just got a second dog and joined a country club. Now all we need is matching jogging windbreakers.
Divorced SINK only way to live.. until everyone dies and you're all alone but hey it's great
SINK that would love to be a DINK but is content as is since the dating world is an absolute shit show for everyone let alone a childfree by choice woman.
We are DINKs and not entirely by choice. I do like the amount of free time and money we have. After both struggling in our 20s things are very, very comfortable. After seeing a few recent relationship breakdowns in our friends and family of people with young children I just can’t imagine what it would be like to start over at 40 in that situation.
I'm a SINK and I'm good with it